Prekindergarten Building on Patterns: Lesson Learned Getting In Touch With Literacy Presented by: Luanne Blaylock, Jo Ellen Croft, Kate Dilworth, Kay Ferrell, Cay Holbrook, Cathy Senft-Graves, Susan Spicknall, Anna Swenson, Robin Wingell

Agenda Introductions Plans and Support for the Revision of the Building on Patterns (BOP) Curriculum Research that guides decision-making on BOP Program Components and Lesson Examples from BOP Pre-K

Building on Patterns Only “basal reading series” for teaching braille reading and writing Building on Patterns Team External Writing Teams from Arkansas, California, and Oregon (All members of the writing teams are experienced teachers of students with visual impairments.) APH Staff Consultants to the program

Building on Patterns Revision 2nd Revision began immediately after completion of BOP 2nd Grade (original Patterns went through 3rd grade) Original intent to begin revising BOP Kindergarten Writers and consultants determined a need for Prekindergarten BOP to lead into Kindergarten based on state standards and checklists for Kindergarten entry

Building on Patterns UEB Teacher Supplements and Updated Student Materials Student textbooks and worksheets in UEB Posttest materials for First Grade and Second Grade in UEB Free, downloadable supplements for the existing teacher’s editions with information on what changes need to be marked in the teachers manual to comply with UEB

Current BOP-K Survey Online survey conducted 11/14/12 – 12/20/12 75 respondents from 22 states and the US Virgin Islands 97% of respondents TVIs Participants were asked: What is taught in BOP-K that should be taught in a pre-kindergarten early literacy program?

BOP-K Survey Results: Teach Before Kindergarten When asked what is taught in BOP-K that should be taught in a Pre-K emergent literacy program, the top three responses were: phonemic awareness and phonics the alphabet, or an introduction to the alphabet contractions at least the first 12 lessons of BOP-K should be taught earlier.

BOP-K Survey Results: Teach Before Kindergarten Other specific skills that received multiple mentions: Tracking, reading with both hands Rhyming Introduction of braille cell Capital sign Period Vocabulary Spatial awareness/ directionality: left to right; top, bottom, middle Concepts/concept development Tactile identification as fun activities Listening comprehension

The “New” Kindergarten Standards have pushed skills needed at kindergarten entry

Supporting Research National Early Literacy Panel Report Common Core and Pre-K State Standards National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Early Learning Standards Quality Literacy Instruction Study Current BOP-K Survey

NELP Variables for Literacy Development Alphabet knowledge Phonological awareness Rapid Automatic Naming of letters or digits Rapid Automatic Naming of objects or colors Writing or writing name Phonological memory

Kindergarten Entry Standards Language: Understands and expresses needs and ideas; engages with a variety of texts (e.g., stories, informational text, poems) Print/Braille concepts: Understands how text relates to speech; demonstrates book handling skills; understands print/braille conventions. Phonological awareness: Identifies rhyming words; discriminates same/different sounds; blends onsets & rimes

Kindergarten Entry Standards (continued) Letter/word recognition: Recognizes some or most letters of the alphabet; recognizes name Phonics: Begins to understand the alphabetic principle; matches name and sound of some consonants to their written letter Writing: Writes most or all of first name; participates in developmentally appropriate writing using letter-like shapes, letters, and/or words to convey meaning; begins to match initial sounds with letters in writing.

Quality Literacy Instruction Study Skill Areas Consistency Total Time/Day Time Span Duration Emergent Braille Literacy Skills 1 to 5 days/week 1/2 to 1 hour Infancy to Preschool At least one school year Early Formal Literacy Skills ("prebraille") Daily Preschool- K Beginning Braille Literacy Skills 1-2 hours per day K-Grade 3 Beginning Literacy Skills in Dual Media (Print and Braille) K- Grade 3 Project SLATE /Framework for Braille; Professional Consensus on Instructional Considerations for Students in Braille Literacy Programs Koenig, A. J., & Holbrook, M. C. (2000). Assuring quality literacy instruction in braille literacy programs. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 94(11), 677-694.

Need for BOP Pre-K BOP-K survey confirmed a need for Pre-K braille literacy material Pre-K will be a separate curriculum as is available in general education programs Maryland Common Core State Curriculum Frameworks for Braille includes Pre-K skills Keeping pace with peers: many entering kindergarteners recognize letters & numbers, read and write their names

Selected BOP Principles BOP will be a part of a comprehensive program Importance of consistent literacy instruction from qualified TVI Service delivery is diverse Literacy instruction should be evidence-grounded and on-going research should be conducted Value of authentic literature Concept development through literacy instruction Connections to the ECC Students have individual needs, likes and dislikes Principles are for the entire Building on Patterns Program not only specific to Pre-K

Components of BOP Pre-K Reading and Writing Braille Letters, Numbers and Some UEB Math Symbols Reading and Writing Simple Continuous Text Interactive Read-Alouds with Authentic Literature Comprehension and Vocabulary Phonological Awareness and Phonics Knowledge and Concept Development Tactile Skills, including Graphics Fun, engaging activities

Pilot Field Test Feedback from Pre-K teachers on Lessons 2, 3, and 4 Video examples of Pre-K children working through parts of lessons Length of lessons and activities within lessons Information about service delivery impact on completion of lessons Sites in KY, NM, & FL; Center based and itinerant, 7 teachers and 7+ children

Key Observations Stories (trade books) are interesting but some are a little long; children responded more (and better) to the second reading of the book Vocabulary words—good balance between simple and challenging words Comprehension—these young children had some difficulty with “open ended” questions and questions that asked children to “personalize” something in the story

Key Observations (continued) Children have difficulty producing written work on the braille writer (Perkins) but teachers saw value in ongoing practice to encourage finger strength, finger isolation and span [writers are including consistent practice in lessons] Largest issue was lesson length and consistency. Writers have made major changes to plans for the lessons that addresses these concerns Children liked songs and other enrichment activities (The Wheels on the Bus; art projects)

Key Observations (continued) Children liked the Tactile Storybooks Issues were discovered that needed to be addressed in some way: Rhyming Words Comprehension Questions Introduction of the Swing Cell Enjoyment of tactile graphics symbols Teachers reported that even if their student has trouble with some things (e.g., finger strength) it is good to work on them

Pre-K Changes Based on Field Testing BOP Pre-K writers have reviewed results of the pilot field test and have worked to: Shorten and/or reduce the number of activities within the lesson Decrease the length of the curriculum by shortening the length of review and assessment lessons Attend to needed practice in areas of concern to teachers

In Every Lesson Read-aloud of authentic literature story or informational text Knowledge and concept development Listening comprehension and vocabulary development Tactile storybook Phonological awareness and phonics

In Every Lesson (continued) Letter recognition Recognition of common alphabetic wordsigns and high frequency words Number recognition Reading continuous text Writing letters, words, and numbers using practice exercises and a modeled/interactive technique Letters start in lesson 3 Numbers start in lesson 6, and review lessons are the exception

Benefits of Interactive Read-Alouds Using Authentic Literature Children engage with the same books as their peers, which promotes social interaction through shared interests. Children learn concepts and vocabulary that cannot be experienced directly. Children become familiar with the "book language" they will be reading themselves later on. Children learn to use different strategies (e.g., recall, predicting, inference) to think about the text as they discuss it with an adult reader.

Benefits of Authentic Literature (continued) Children develop an understanding of how fluent reading sounds. Children learn that books contain appealing stories and interesting information, which contributes to a positive attitude towards literacy. Parents, teachers, and children gain the understanding that reading braille is equivalent to reading print.

Background Knowledge Types of background knowledge (Pearson & Liben) General world knowledge Knowledge of relations among people Disciplinary (Informational) knowledge Knowledge of language (vocabulary; idioms; grammatical structures) Young children acquire background knowledge through: Hands-on exploration with verbal explanation Oral language Social situations and role-playing Play (exploration, inquiry, & reinforcement of concepts,) Read-alouds https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/documents/literacyconveningprogressionofcomprehension.pdf P. David Pearson & David Liben

Background Knowledge for You Be You (BOP Pre-K Lesson 4) Examination of real fish, model fish, & tactile graphic Activities relating fish body and movements to child‘s own body I'm a Little Fishy (Tune: I'm a Little Teapot) I'm a little fishy, watch me swim. (Fishy Hands) Here is my tail, here is my fin. (Point to where tail and fin would be.) When I want to have fun with my friends, (Point to others.) I wiggle my tail and dive right in! (Wiggle and jump forward.) Fish puppet art; puppet used to practice opposites. ("Swim up/down, left/right, over/under.").

Background Knowledge Developed with Paired Literary and Informational Books Lessons 7-8 The Very Hungry Caterpillar What's it like to be … a Butterfly? Lessons 19-20 The Very Busy Spider What's it like to be … a Spider?

Additional Lesson Features Daily reading of alphabet Regular reading of numbers 1-10 Enrichment: Music Other enrichment activities such as art, movement, or sensory activities Parent Letter Letter Bank Integral to the content of each lesson is  the concept of play Last bullet: Pace of lessons should be geared to the needs of the individual child with plenty of time for play and exploration. Mastery not the goal at this stage Not necessary to complete the entire BOP Pre-K program before beginning kindergarten level.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin Sample Lesson Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin

Vocabulary groovy: really cool; great; awesome favorite: the one he liked best popped: came off or fell off buttonless: without buttons, no buttons

Tactile Storybook Cover: Pete’s Buttons

Tactile Storybook Page   3333 = 333 = 3333 = 333 = 33 3333333333333333 #d 33333333 333333333 pop 33333333333333

Fun Learning Activities!

Questions?

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